Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-11
A POLYGAMIC FAMILY
TEK WAY A MORMON DIVIDES ATrEE-
TON BET WEN HIS WIVES
English Wemen Le,s Favorable % Plural
Marriage Than american Girls
About sev Ronrets and
Dresses

| interviewed half-dozen Mormon
ladies in q group, to-day, says a Salt
Lake correspondent of the st. Louis
Giobc- Democrat. Three OF them were
wives Of apostles, and the husbands OF
most Of them are in hiding. | prom
ised lot to mention their names, and l
mean TO keep faith with them. L
asked them for their experiences in
Polygamy, and particularly for an in-
sight into the manner in which Nor
mon husband, with six or seven fami-
lies on his hands. managed to run
things so smoothly and keep the white
winged angel of peace lowering over
his extensive household.
THAT last question is not easy 10
answer, one Of tie ladies replied. 81
have been in polygamy over forty
years, and | have never heard any rule
laid down for a mans conduct toward
his family. The mode of life OF hus-
band in the celestial order OF marriage
for that is what we call polygamy-de-
ponds very much upon the kind OF in
dividual he is. He must be a man Of
Judgment, in addition to being honest,
sincere, pure, and holy. lie must un-
deIstand human nature and possess the
gift Of governing.
HE MUST Know now
to meet complaints and be quick to de-
eide on all matters of domestic pollty.
He should and generally does have a
keen sense Of justice, and if he is in
clinCd TO favor any one OF his wives he
should possess the actors skill of put
ting on and off his emotions at plea
sure. Some men make q mistake by
going into polygamy-they are the men
who are incapable Of governing, who,
in fact, are dOmineered and driven by
the wives, or by some of their wives,
and whose households are in cOnse-
quence anything but peaceful and
happy. Discussions in polygamic fami-
lies are, however, as few as the same
troubles in Inorganic families, and
they arise from nearly the same
causes. Yon must know that it
is not every man who can enter into
polygamy. People think that all q man
has to do to get a half dozen wives is to
lust become a Mormon, but let those
people try it and they will see how
greatly mistaken they are. To enter
INTO polygamy a Mormon must have
such standing in the Church aud com
munity that his bishop can recommend
him to the temple, and after the
bishops recommend the president Of
the State, and, finally, the first presi
dent Of the Church must pass upon his
credentials. lie must be q sober and
industrious man. with means for the
support Of plural wives, and he must
be willing to live up to the Gospel
o. Jesus Christ and 10 endure the
srciifcos which poiygamy entail. To
the outside world a husband in poly
eamy seems 10 have very rosy time o.
i, bot the outsiders are greatly mis-
taken. Tie wives, too, must pat uP
with many sacrifices. think the cclcs-
tial order OF marriage beauties wJ-
mans character ; it renders her yield-
ing ara Tliahle, and subdues those
feelings that make women wicked aud
Wild 1T times. By this DO not mean
that woman sacrifices any part OF her
DIGNITY. Strangers como To my door
and ask, Don't your wives fight ? and
! answer them. Yes, sometimes don't
you| Then they say, We do not see
how you can be satisfied to
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